About Carrie Adams, Pharm.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Carrie Adams, Pharm. D., is a results-driven healthcare executive with over a decade of progressive leadership experience in clinical operations, quality improvement, human resources, and care transformation. As Chief Operating Officer at Meritus Health since January 2022, Carrie provides strategic oversight and operational leadership for Meritus Medical Center, ensuring high-quality, cost-effective care aligned with the organization’s mission and vision.
Under her leadership, Meritus has achieved measurable improvements in patient safety, experience, and operational efficiency. Key accomplishments include reducing overhead expenses by $4 million, top state performance in quality outcomes, and earning five consecutive “A” grades from Leapfrog. She played a pivotal role in establishing HRO practices and received the Ohio Govenor’s Award for Excellence Baldrige.
Previously serving as Chief Quality Officer and VP of Human Resources (2018–2022), Carrie led the turnaround of the system’s pay-for-performance outcomes—reversing a $4M penalty to a $2.2M reward—while also reducing hospital readmissions and avoidable harm events. Her implementation of process improvement frameworks like Kata and data-driven scorecards helped embed a culture of accountability and safety throughout the organization.
As Chief Transformation Officer (2017–2018), Carrie successfully led a $54 million enterprise-wide EHR implementation across ambulatory, inpatient, and revenue cycle settings, completing the project on time and under budget. In addition, she led operational redesign efforts to streamline workflows and reduce inpatient wait times.
In earlier roles, including Corporate Director of Pharmacy Services for Trivergent Health Alliance, Carrie managed pharmacy operations across three regional hospitals, achieving $11 million in drug utilization savings and $7.4 million in vendor negotiations.